Monster! #16

Although nothing else in the issue directly pertains to Lucio Fulci, Troy Howarth kicks off MONSTER! #16 by singing said late director’s praises in his “Fulciriffic” guest editorial (elsewhere in the issue, Troy also contributes Pt. 1 of his two-part article entitled “My Favorite Lycanthropes”, covering his fave cinematic werewolves). Our feature reviews spotlight the unsung Mexi-monster classic AVENTURA AL CENTRO DE LA TIERRA and Michael Mann’s elusive cult favorite THE KEEP, which has yet to surface on either Blu-ray or DVD. Reviewed elsewhere are MONSTERS: DARK CONTINENT (2014), SHE DEVIL (1957), WIZARDS OF THE LOST KINGDOM (1985), DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (1973), ALIEN SIEGE (2005), EVIL IN THE WOODS (1986), THE SLIME PEOPLE (1963), BREEDERS (1986), THE BLACK HOLE (2006), as well as the obscure Indian horror shocker PYASI APSARA (1991). Not only does seasoned MONSTER! veteran Stephen R. Bissette cover a pair of obscure Mexican creature features, but he also pays further tribute to the recently deceased Ib “REPTILICUS” Melchior, as well as focusing on the influence of Mr. Melchior’s canon – in addition to numerous other pop-cultural influences – on Ridley Scott’s recent Hollywood blockbuster PROMETHEUS (2012), whose debts to psychotronic movies / SF pulp fiction and comics (etc.) are legion; even if most might well sail high over the heads of the “average” modern moviegoer. Elsewhere in M! 16, Bill Adcock gives us “No Way These Are Local Boys!”; an affectionate look back over the TREMORS series, complete with some fascinating hypotheses as to the real world zoological roots of the films’ earth-burrowing monsters, the Graboids. In the second installment of his entertaining regular column “From the Cheese Returned”, José Cruz covers two mummy movies from early in this the new millennium: namely BRAM STOKER’S THE MUMMY, starring Louis Gossett, Jr., and Russell Mulcahy’s TALE OF THE MUMMY, starring Jason Scott Lee. Other contributors to this issue were Mark Savage, Dawn Dabell, Eric Messina, Adam Parker-Edmondston, Dennis Capicik, Christos Mouroukis, Les Moore, Brian Harris, Steve Fenton, and Tim Paxton. As per usual, detailed information as to the video availability of the titles covered within the ’zine round out the contents, and it is jam-packed with illustrations throughout.